Some board games and many card games require the players to keep and make available their individual scores to the other players. Typically, one person assumes responsibility to keep score for everyone with paper and pencil. Ideally, each player should maintain his own score in a non-distracting, easily recognizable manner, and not take up excessive table space in the process.
There have heretofore been devised display counters for providing a running tally of a game score and its display to the players. McMurdo, U.S. Pat. No. 2,156,539 describes a counter specifically limited to use for bridge and keeps score for more than one player. Also, it does not display the scores so as to be easily read by all players seated at a table. The McMurdo counter does allow for automatic movement of a "tens" wheel after the "ones" wheel has been advanced ten increments, but does so with a relatively complex gearing, and does not insure centered positioning of the "tens" numerals.
Roy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,587,066 discloses a counter designed specifically for cribbage, with separately activated counter display for each of the two players, the displayed count for each player is not easily read by the other player. This disclosed counter also has no means to decrease the displayed score.
Veen, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,818,214 and 2,572,784 shows counters which display the score in only one direction and requires the depression of individual levers to advance each wheel separately. There is no automatic activation of the tens wheel by the ones wheel.
Forman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,461 describes a counter display which is not self-contained and requires installation into a separate, pre-existing housing. It provides only one display for each player, and has no automatic advancement of the tens wheel by the ones wheel requiring independent rotation from the player.
It is important that such devices be simple and low cost, as well as be compact and attractive in appearance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a display counter suitable for game scoring which enables independent tallying for one player and to be displayed so as to be easily read by all players.
It is also another object to provide a display counter capable of increasing and/or decreasing the score with equal simplicity, with a means to set the initial starting score.
It is another object to provide a display counter capable of tallying and displaying up to two-digits of count, in which the tens digit is automatically advanced or decreased with the ones count without requiring a complex mechanism and with accurate tens digit placement to avoid ambiguous displays.